Chapter 1320 Do you want political achievements or safety?
After Chu Guocai heard Liu Qingyu's discussion, his heart was filled with ups and downs, and he could not calm down for a long time. Although Liu Qingyu's discussion was a bit alarmist, he had to admit that Liu Qingyu's words were indeed prepared for danger in times of peace. He is very aware of worries. He clearly remembered that the leader pointed out in his speech some time ago that enhancing the awareness of worries and being prepared for danger in times of peace is a major principle that we must always adhere to in governing the party and the country. To consolidate our party's ruling position, we must unite Leading the people to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and ensuring national security are top priorities.
Liu Qingyu’s remarks are exactly in line with the spirit of the chief’s speech. Only by always caring for the people, fulfilling the party’s responsibilities, having the courage to innovate, and never stagnating can we continue to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and ensure that the people can enjoy peace of mind. The results of deepening reforms, among which national security and people's security are the top priorities.
The tap water industry is definitely a strategic industry related to the national economy and people's livelihood. No country or nation will easily open its tap water industry to a potentially hostile country for operation.
As the secretary of the provincial party committee, Chu Guocai usually has to deal with too many things, and many of them are big and important matters. Basically, small things like running water are rarely reported to his desk, but today, when he heard After finishing Liu Qingyu's discussion, he suddenly realized that sometimes, some things that seem to be trivial to many officials and even ordinary people may not be trivial to truly far-sighted leaders, especially this time. The tap water safety incident in Lanshan City made him deeply aware of this. It seemed that it was time to pay attention to this matter from a strategic perspective.
At this moment, after hearing Liu Qingyu's remarks, Zhang Zhigang had to stand up. He immediately said loudly: "Mayor Liu, I don't agree with your point of view. How does the foreign tap water industry operate?" I don’t know, but as far as I know, our Lanshan City is not the first to hand over the operation of its water plant to a foreign company, like our Lanshan City, which is now operating our water plant. An American company, they also operate and manage water plants in dozens of cities in other provinces and cities in China, including water plants in some large cities. I would like to ask Mayor Liu, have they not thought of what you mentioned in other cities? The question is, if everyone is like you who is afraid of wolves before and tigers later, should we still carry out reform and opening up, and how can we deepen reforms?"
Zhang Zhigang's words are still very powerful, and the evidence provided is quite reasonable, giving people an undeniable power.
However, his opponent is Liu Qingyu, an official who is deeply concerned about the country and the people. He is an official with a long-term strategic vision that is far beyond ordinary people. He is an official who never puts personal gains and losses at heart. Officials who always look at things from the perspective of the country and the nation.
Although Zhang Zhigang's words sounded reasonable at first, Zhang Zhigang knew very well that all he considered were his personal interests and gains and losses. The water plant was sold by him, and at that time it was still There was a particularly high-profile hype. At that time, the assets of the water plant were only worth 50 million, but he sold it for a high price of 200 million. This was a well-known political achievement of him and the then mayor Zhou Junhao. It was unlike any other. No mayor has done this, but they sold it at a premium of four times. This is also an outstanding political achievement they made under the banner of so-called deepening reforms.
Liu Qingyu just smiled coldly with disdain, and then responded: "Comrade Zhang Zhigang, please don't compare deepening reforms and selling out water plants. They are not of the same order of magnitude at all. I would like to ask, does the water industry count? It's not an industry with advanced technology, right? Let's take a look at our Lanshan City Water Plant. I would like to ask, after the American Weili Water Co., Ltd. spent 200 million yuan to purchase a controlling stake in the water plant, the water plant changed its name. In addition, have the water intake and treatment equipment been replaced? No, except for some facade projects, the entire water plant has almost no changes, and many places even maintain the same appearance as when it was built in the 1960s. , even the decoration of some office buildings and buildings have not been touched at all. However, since Weili Water Holdings, they have increased the water price by 3 cents every year without any improvement in service and quality. Until now , the water price in Arashiyama City is already quite high.”
"Comrade Zhang Zhigang, I would like to ask you, does the situation at the Lanshan City Waterworks have anything to do with deepening reforms? Has this waterworks introduced advanced water treatment technology or equipment or what? , even if equipment or technology is introduced, can’t Lanshan City’s finances spend their own money to introduce it? Even if Lanshan City’s fiscal funds are insufficient, can’t these problems be solved through bank loans or financing shares? Why must it be done? They handed over the controlling rights of the entire water plant to foreigners, and allowed foreigners to increase prices arbitrarily."
Having said this, Liu Qingyu looked at Chu Guocai and said: "Secretary Chu, I think that the tap water transfer is not so much about deepening reforms or introducing so-called advanced management experience, but it is more about some officials doing it for their so-called political achievements. , it does not even rule out that some people use it to deceive others in order to get some gray income. They can eventually promote and publicize these things as their own political achievements, but in fact, these things they do are actually They have really handed over the lifeblood of our Chinese people to foreigners. I think these people have not understood one thing at all, that is, as an official, is his own political achievements more important, or the country and the people? Life safety is important, so I believe that the Provincial Party Committee should conduct an in-depth investigation into the Lanshan City Water Plant being resold to foreigners, and take necessary measures to take back the management rights and controlling rights of the water plant to ensure the lifeblood of our country and people strategic security.”
Before Liu Qingyu finished speaking, and before Chu Guocai expressed his stance, Zhang Zhigang couldn't bear it anymore. He knew that once Chu Guocai really implemented Liu Qingyu's proposal, he would be in danger. , because although Zhou Junhao proposed the sale of the water plant to an American company, the whole thing was almost handled by himself, and it was impossible for him to betray Zhou Junhao, so if there was a problem, he would definitely be the one to do it. To take responsibility.
For his own safety, Zhang Zhigang had no choice but to fight.
Zhang Zhigang retorted loudly: "Secretary Chu, I strongly disagree with Mayor Liu's opinion. I think Mayor Liu is confusing the public and playing with concepts, because first of all, we have a policy basis for selling the water plant to foreign-funded enterprises. Relevant departments have issued relevant opinions on accelerating the marketization process of the municipal public utility industry, encouraging social funds and foreign capital to participate in the construction of municipal public facilities in various forms such as sole proprietorship, joint ventures, and cooperation to form a diversified investment structure. , First of all, it is completely reasonable and legal for Lanshan City to sell its water plant to an American company, and there is no problem with this.
Secondly, we cannot deny the positive role they played in the entire reform just because the Lanshan City Water Plant has such a water quality problem. They have still made outstanding contributions to the economic development and people's livelihood of our Lanshan City. I think Mayor Liu’s generalizations are completely illogical.”
When Chu Guocai heard Zhang Zhigang's response, he nodded slightly and said, "Well, I also know about that policy. There is no doubt about it. Liu Qingyu, what do you think about this?"
Liu Qingyu pondered for a moment, and then said slowly: "Secretary Chu, first of all, I want to make my attitude clear. I also know the policy mentioned by Comrade Zhang Zhigang. There is no problem with that policy itself, and I strongly support it. Accelerating the marketization process of the municipal public utility industry can deepen reforms and break some existing interest patterns. It can play a huge role in combating corruption and reducing the burden on local governments. Moreover, the entire policy itself has gone through such a process. Years of implementation have also proven the correctness of the policy itself, there is no doubt about this.
However, I think that the fact that there are no problems with the policy itself does not mean that there are no problems in some places during the implementation of the policy. I will discuss the problems that exist in our Lanshan City based on the facts. First of all, I would like to ask Comrade Zhang Zhigang, According to the relevant policies of our country, what is the fundamental purpose of realizing the marketization process of the public industry? Is it to increase the market price of the tap water industry, to increase the living burden of the people, or to increase the strategic security risks of our country's water resources."
"None of them." Zhang Zhigang denied it.
Liu Qingyu smiled and nodded: "Yes, Comrade Zhang Zhigang is right. Those are not the fundamental purpose of speeding up the process. The document also makes it quite clear that the reason why we do that is to improve the performance of our municipal departments. Service quality, improve service efficiency, so that local governments can focus more on serving the people and reduce some burdens, Comrade Zhang Zhigang, what I said is wrong."
"That's right." Zhang Zhigang had to agree at this time, because Liu Qingyu was absolutely right.
At this moment, Zhang Zhigang already felt a sense of crisis approaching him. He was already shuddering, and his eyes looking at Liu Qingyu were a little more wary.